Not sure if it is true....but my understanding is that the Torx screws came into being via GM and then quickly adopted by the tech industry. Originally it was about a better drive system - but tech adopted for the hi-tech look. Of course, now the move is to 5-pointers vs the 6 pointers. I use the De...

Ok....Me Too!! I also have one of those massive garden tubs. Most use it has ever seen is giving the dogs a bath in the winters. The other bathroom has a tub - so this garden tub needs to go. Yes! I want a shower that has a bench or ledge where I can actually reach my feet to wash 'em - without smac...

I have been looking at windows for a couple of years now. My mortgage is VA - and the VA offers an energy upgrade program when doing a refi. Unfortunately, if you even breathe a word of doing a VA refi - every quote will be in excess of the amount the VA allows. One of the things that struck me as v...

Just an addendum... Anyone with VA loan and looking to refi to a lower rate..... VA has a program that you can add up to $6000 to your loan for energy efficiency upgrades - which does include going to either a light colored metal or shingle roof. The materials have to have a specific Energy Star rat...

I had a metal roof over my deck - and it was blazing hot on some days. The metal just radiated the heat from this texas sun. I'm not sure how to incorporate it into the look and feel - but if some sort of foam-sheet insulation could be mounted, and then the sheet metal over that - it might help to c...

When I first bought the place and the rains came, the "hole" filed up with about a foot of water. I got out my faithful Kubota and dug out the lower end to provide a drain path. Then I went around the house and made sure the slope was away from the house. The supporting cinder blocks are r...

Greg, That is a bit of relief as we have had a very wet winter down here in north Texas. I probably should still dig all that dirt away from the back side so it isn't "pushing" against the house. Still, I don't know what to use to keep more dirt at bay (retaining wall???) When the unit was...

I have a DW with the vinyl skirting...and down the front side is a deck that runs the whole length. The place sits into a bit of a slope/hill with the back side of the DW having the ground level come about 1.5 feet up the side of the skirting. Last summer, I began re-finishing the deck and so I cut ...

Yanita, Not sure this is the stuff you are looking for.... The best primer I have ever found is XIM and is carried by Sherwin Williams - at least here in the US. I've used it to paint over vinyl panels without not even a spot of separation or peeling. It will also bond to glass so tightly that a raz...

Troy - I'm really interested to see how you come out with this project. When I bought my place, it had a 30 x16 galvanized metal sheeting roof over a portion of the deck. The rocket scientists who put it up used single 2x4's spaced 4ft apart to span the 16 feet, and then 1x2's running perpendicular ...

I did a little remodeling in my laundry room - and re-routing the dryer exhaust required I crawl under the house. Holy Toledo! There were Jillions (with a capital "J"!) of those brown crickets on everything. Of course the instinct is to kill'em! ..... but I had some concerns about spraying...

I had a similar problem...and it is 50% fixed. The knuckleheads, who set this place up, actually dug a hole for the mobile home and deck. The land is slanted ... so at the short end the "hole" is down about 18"....but on the deep end, it is about 30". Naturally, the "hole&qu...

The irony of the whole "smokers cause higher health costs" is that it is exactly the opposite. Lung cancer is usually quick to kill - hence the hospital and doctor bills are much, much less when compared to someone who lives into the later ages. These really older folks are the ones runnin...

I'm doing a refi - and the VA has a program that will allow up to $6000 in energy upgrades. I've initially targeted my windows as they are all single pane. But! The local electric coop energy guru tells me I should just hang heavy curtains and skip installing new windows. And! Being the windows comp...

I'm looking to refi while the rates are down, and the VA has a program that allows up to $6000 in energy upgrades that I can roll into my loan. The two items that come to mind for upgrade are my single-pane windows and the water heater. (My last bill was nearly $400 for 1200sqft - and I nearly had a...